Simply Crabby
by Autumn Leaf Ninja
Summary: When a supposed "disaster" strikes a peaceful Clan by the sea, will the patrol sent out to investigate find a solution to their problem?


Our Clan by the sea is always the best place to be. At least, that's what we had all lived our lives thinking. It was as true as we thought it was, and very true indeed. It held true for many moons, and for many generations. The end of our perfect kind of peace could have ended because of what one she-cat saw on one particular day.

Everything was great; the sun was shining and the waves that WaveClan is named for lapped along the coast loudly enough for us to hear it from our camp. Every cat was contentedly sun-bathing and hunting on this gorgeous green-leaf day, and everything, as always, was simply wonderful. It was such a nice day that I almost dozed off while I was sun-bathing.

"Graytooth!" my mate, Minnowtail, scolded me, "you ought to know better than to fall asleep while out in the sun like this. You'll end up burnt to the bone!"

"I know, I know," I grumbled, standing on my large paws to stretch. My dark gray pelt doesn't shine half as much as most as the pelts of other cats in WaveClan, but I'm fortunate enough for my fur's inability to shine brightly not to have drawn away the she-cat I've loved since I was an apprentice, Minnowtail.

The silver she-cat shook her head and mumbled, "I would have thought he'd know better by now." I'm so fortunate to live here, where everything is peaceful and every cat cares about one another. I leaned over and licked my mate's ear.

I was just about to lie down in the sun again when I heard a screech coming from outside of the camp. "Rainstar, Rainstar!" a voice desperately shrieked. The voice repeated our leader's name over and over, sounded nearer with each repeat. Other cats began spilling into the clearing from various places at the startling shrieks. Just as Rainstar left his den and began dashing over to the source of the voice, Dewpool sprinted to the center of the clearing where Minnowtail and I were sun-bathing.

"Rainstar, there are crabs invading the territory!" the blue-gray she-cat screeched.

Rainstar reached her and immediately demanded, "Tell me what you saw."

"Crabs!" she cried. "There were lots and lots of crabs!"

Rainstar shook his head, clearly agitated. "Yes, you already informed me of the presence of crabs. How do you know they're _invading_, though?"

I didn't judge Rainstar for questioning one of his warriors because this particular warrior tends to overreact for just about everything. When another warrior, Yellowtail, got a bellyache from eating a fish that was already becoming crow-food, Dewpool insisted that no cat should go fishing for at least a quarter-moon. Needless to say, she was the only cat to take her advice, and no other cat got sick. Since fish is the common type of prey for WaveClan cats, Dewpool grew skinnier and skinnier over the half-moon when she refused to eat or catch fish.

"There were so many of them, Rainstar! They would have ripped my pelt apart with their massive claws if I hadn't run away from them! Please send a patrol to fight them off. I beg of you!" she pleaded desperately.

Minnowtail and I exchanged a glance. I shook my head and sighed, "Minnowtail and I will go."

Rainstar narrowed his blue eyes at me and nodded. Then he said, "I'll go as well. Let's get this over with."

We began padding out of camp, but before we could actually leave, Dewpool wailed, "Surely you'll take more cats with you?"

Rainstar shook his head and sighed. "Yellowtail, you can come as well," he said. The golden-furred she-cat joined our group and we finally got to leave camp to search for the supposed "invading crabs". We proceeded to the shoreline.

Once the sea became visible, we came to an abrupt halt, for right there before the water was a horde of giant crabs, all with thin legs, huge claws, and a hard-looking red shell. They were moving along the shore in circles and kept on bumping into one another. I was unable to contain my amusement, which caused my bulky body to shake. Minnowtail glared at me.

"Well, I don't think we have to worry about an impending attack from these creatures," Rainstar concluded, sitting back on his haunches.

"We should at least do something to ease Dewpool's worries, though," Minnowtail said.

"I have a great idea," Yellowtail chimed in. "Why don't we catch the crabs and have the Clan feast on them?"

"Have any of you tasted crab before?" I asked. "I definitely haven't."

"I'm sure they taste fine," the golden she-cat insisted.

"If I am what I eat, then I don't want to eat any mouse-brained creatures like those," Minnowtail protested, gesturing with her tail at the crabs, which were still moving about in circles on their thin legs and bumping into one another.

"Well, we can't just let them be," Rainstar argued. "Dewpool will panic and attack them, and those claws do seem fairly sharp." He glanced wearily at the creatures' huge claws.

We sat there silently, thinking of a solution to our "invading crabs" situation. Eventually, I gave in and declared, "I'm going for it. I'm sure they're perfectly safe to eat."

With that, I skirted the edge of the group of crabs and singled one out. With several carefully placed bites from my long, sharp teeth, the crab ceased its motion. Assuming it was dead, I began heaving it back to camp, observing that the rest of the patrol was doing the same as me. I released the heavy creature at Dewpool's paws.

With a sigh of relief that I no longer had to bear the weight of the massive crab, I said to the blue-gray she-cat, "Eat up."

**And that concludes my entry for SecretClan's "Disastrous" challenge! :) This was my fifth challenge, which means that it makes me an official SecretClan warrior. :')**

**The prompt that was given was about a peaceful day that was ruined by a certain disaster, which was provided by SecretClan's medicine cat, Ivy, who created the challenge. The disaster I was given was an "invasion of crabs". Although it was supposed to be a disaster, I gave it what may be considered a "happy ending" anyway. :P The minimum number of words for a SecretClan apprentice for this particular challenge is 900, and (not including this Author's Note) I wrote 967 words. :)**

**Well, as always, I hope you liked it! Let me know what you think! :)**


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